Electoral system for the president

Portgual, Constitution of the Seventh Portuguese Republic [2005] (Constituição da República Portuguesa), accessed 5 August 2024

Article 121 (Election)

1. The President of the Republic is elected by the universal, direct and secret suffrage of Portuguese citizens who are registered to vote in Portuguese territory and, in accordance with the following paragraph, of Portuguese citizens who reside abroad.

Article 126 (Electoral system)

1. The candidate who receives more than half of the validly cast votes shall be elected President of the Republic. Blank ballot papers are considered not to have been validly cast.

2. If none of the candidates obtains this number of votes, a second ballot shall be held within twenty-one days of the first one.

3. Only the two candidates who received most votes in the first ballot and have not withdrawn their candidatures shall stand in the second ballot.